Is Kashmir burning?
We need a fresh new approach to solve vital issues like Kashmir and the Maoist problem, says ERVELL E MENEZES
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Kashmir is so much in the news that we seem to take little notice of it. It is a regular item on Page 1 of the dailies though, quite often, it is relegated to a filler, like the blasts in Paris in the 1970s.
Whether the security forces are ‘exercising restraint’ or are ‘trigger-happy’ depends on which side one sympathises with. The stone-throwing mobs, too, are quite active in their bid at ‘jihad’. And, don’t we know that when religious fervour is invoked, there is no stopping the route to martyrdom?
For too long we have kept the ‘K’ question on the back burner. It’s time we addressed it with a whole new approach. In fact, this writer grew up on Indian UN delegate V K Krishna Menon’s fiery marathon speeches in the United Nations during the Nehru era (clips of which would appear on the ‘Indian News Review’ shown in cinemas before the main film in those days). They were as striking as they were erudite. He even questioned the very “utility of the Security Council” during an unprecedented eight-hour speech to the UN Security Council on 23 January 1957, defending India’s stand on Kashmir. Menon took breaks only to drink from a glass of water and, at one point, came near to fainting during that historic speech.
We know the “part and parcel of India” rhetoric often quoted by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and other Indian leaders. But we also know that Nehru was a Kashmiri Pandit (they are known for their craftiness) and had a vested interest in his own motherland.
Why retain Section 370 of the Constitution, which prevents non-Kashmiris from owning land in the Valley? We do not have that Section anywhere else in the country. Years later, Section 620 B was imposed, which allows Armed Forces in Jammu and Kashmir to have special powers. If this isn’t a bias, what is?
The fact that Kashmir had a Hindu king, Hari Singh, with a majority Muslim population is a little incongruous to say the least. French novelist Patrick French, in his recent essay in ‘Outlook’ magazine, has this to say: “Few national politicians would dare to take a creative position in many areas where change is obviously needed – for example in regard to Kashmir, where it is apparent the representative status quo has been leading to disaster for a decade.”
On a separate note, he refers to the growing Maoist presence: “The fruits of recent economic growth have bypassed large sections of the population in central India, and so it is assumed that armed rebellion in those areas must be more ‘authentic’ or visible than in any other response.” Being an outsider, French’s observations cannot be ignored. They are surely more objective than ours.
But the writer also refers to the all-party dialogues that took place between Nehru, Gandhi, Ambedkar, Rajendra Prasad and Maulana Azad during the forming of the Constituent Assembly. It is these dialogues that helped us draft a Constitution quite unlike our neighbours, Pakistan.
French further says: “There was nothing inevitable about India becoming a democracy. At Independence, even before the Partition massacres took place, the nation was falling apart. The ‘Quit India’ movement had left large parts of the north ungovernable, and civil power was breaking down across the country.
“The armed forces were about to be divided between India and Pakistan and the most senior Indian officer, Gen K M Cariappa, told Viceroy Lord Mountbatten that it might be a good idea to have a short spell of military rule. Fortunately, this idea was rejected, and India did not go the way of some of our neighbours, where politicians share power uneasily with the armed forces.”
Aren’t we happy to be far more stable and to have a functioning democracy than Pakistan? For this, we have to thank the foresight of our Constituent Assembly, our founding fathers.
Referring to the Maoist problem, French speaks of the need to take a fresh look at the issue. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), he says, is composed almost exclusively of ageing men with upper caste backgrounds, mostly from landed families in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, whose ideas were formed in the1970s. The Adivasis, in whose name the battle is taking place, are foot soldiers of a dated philosophy that, French feels, has no chance of succeeding in a country as large as India. Still, these old men are presumed to speak for the poor.
It is time we have a new all-party meet on vital issues like Kashmir and the Maoist problem, which is fast-spreading owing to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s (also an upper caste Hindu) unbending postures. Open debate is absolutely necessary. The need for a dialogue is irrefutable. We scarcely resort to this measure, instead of expending most of our energies fighting each other.
St Augustine said: “The importance of a dialogue is not winning it, but finding the truth.” It is the only possible solution. After decades of straitjacketed thinking, why not take a fresh new approach to this long-stagnant problem?
Nearer home, in a Goa that is verdant green with the bountiful monsoon, the predictable one-step-forward-two-steps-backward functioning of the Digambar Kamat government goes on. Recently, there was news that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was awaiting the government nod to prosecute 11 persons (nine from Customs and Central Excise, one from MPT, one from Customs) in two cases in June 2009 and 2010. Maybe Digambar-bab is not even aware of it…
Then there is the old issue of the new Asilo Hospital in Mapusa, ready and waiting for nearly two years. The Court’s decision is awaited, reminding one of times – about a decade ago – when the High Court ruled, not the sleepy Congress government.
This time, the Bombay High Court observed that the state government should immediately shift the facilities of the Asilo Hospital from the existing premises to the new building, without waiting for a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement to be reached. Justices A S Oka and F M Reis asked the government get the hospital functioning, as there is ample availability of staff and medical facilities. Start the initial work and then go ahead with the PPP, it said.
But Advocate-General Subodh Kantak’s defence was: “If we go ahead with the hospital without a proper facelift, several questions will be asked.” Well, several questions are already being asked about the inordinate delay in opening the hospital. Why not address those questions first? It’s elementary, Mr Kantak.
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Mother Teresa’s light shines
By Marc de Souza
On a train to Darjeeling in 1946, Jesus called a nun to “Come, be my light”. That woman became Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and spread that light throughout the world, caring for the poorest of the poor, opening hundreds of orphanages, hospices, health clinics and soup kitchens.
Mother Teresa hasn’t any children of her own, but she is the world’s most famous Mother. Her name itself conjures the image of a woman who was compassion incarnate for the destitute, sick, abandoned and dying. Everywhere she looked, she saw sadness. There was so much to do. She started with a small home at Kalighat, Kolkata, on 22 August 1952. When she died at the age of 87, there were 3,917 sisters serving in 594 missions in 123 countries.
Walk into a ‘Mother Teresa’ centre and a visitor receives a sincere welcome, no matter how small the apartment or how drab their rooms. A visit to Asilo at Panjim is not only an eye-opener, but also a heart-n-soul opener. As humanity at large lives in hope, the inmates too do so, irrespective of all the real yet artificial barriers. One can see it in their smiles, in their lighted eyes, in their little talks, in the handshakes.
Children will be children. They come to you with open arms and shining eyes. The nuns’ love for them is obvious. They must be missing so many things, but they have a shelter. I found them full of fun, so much larger than life, bouncing with boundless energy. They come to you inviting affection, tugging at your clothes, holding your hand, asking for piggy-back rides, to be tossed into the air or swung round.
Some have sores, some shaven heads; some are very thin, others mentally retarded. But tiny as they are, they have lots to give. And, it’s a pity sometimes that there is no hand stretched to receive it.
I saw a woman. At first, I was afraid to get closer to her. My heart sank. But, when very near to despair, something inside commanded me firmly to touch her, sit by her side and tell her she is not forgotten. For a hanging second, she rolled her eyes towards Heaven and unconsciously made the sign of the cross. Her mouth opened as if to say: “Is it true?” Her eyes shone like the stars of a summer night.
Their bodies may be debilitated, yet they are so cheerful. I never cease to be amazed at the joy they radiate and the sense of victory, of belonging, which clings to them. The main thing is that they want and need someone to talk to. They don’t want to be treated as deadbeats any more than the rest of us.
The Missionaries of Charity solely depends on the generosity of its supporters. “God sends whatever the people need,” says Sister Bernadette. The sisters belonging to this congregation wear white saris with a blue trim and sandals. Said one ageing man who painfully hobbled to greet the nuns with a carton of fruits, tipping his hat: “Why, they are angels incarnate!”
Mother Teresa was born of Albanian parents. A tiny stooping figure less than five feet tall, she had a huge heart filled with love and compassion for everyone, irrespective of colour, nationality, creed and gender. She carried everything she owned in a wee cloth bag, including the Rosary beads, which made many simplify their own lives.
The work of Blessed Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity earned accolades from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, including awards such as the Nobel Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In honour of the 100th anniversary of this holy woman’s birth – 26 August – the day will be marked all over the world. In all probability, the tower lights of New York’s Empire State Building will shine blue and white – the colours of the Missionaries of Charity.
